#soemthing and gasped and was about to say ‘sorry my bad’ or something but she replied saying she loved me too and that made me so happy

[deityofhearts]

it’s so crazy how one day you start saying “I love you” to someone in your life for the first time and then you just keep on doing so for years to come

[zuffer-weird-girl]

May I request that Overhaul gets hit by a quirk that puts him in a AU where his angel is ship's angel? Like they have a meeting then she comes in and sits next to shigarki . Then overhauls like wtf , ik I already requested but that previous one was cringy so yeah.

He couldn't even walk anymore on the streets in peace. A sick person just had to at least bump with his shoulder or arm. Each. Time.

Grumbling a curse or two to the person who just waved with a "my bad!" kinda of apology he just continued to his walk home, eager to take a shower and put the jacket to wash later after being on contact with someone on those filfh streets of Japan.

The weather seemed to close a bit as he narrowed his eyes at the sky... The weather cast just swore this morning that it was going to be a sunny day and there were grey clouds just above him?

He sighed... well, guess he was just going to hear you whinning about your lost date. Just yesterday you had almost begged to him to go out on the evening and he begrudily end up agreing to your wishes due to those cursed puppy eyes you always brought up to him.

He arrived and arched an eyebrow at seing his subbordinates not there. Working as they should be but just simoly brushed off as them slacking off and went to his quarters.

"(Y/n)?" He called nonchantly while pulling his jacket aside while looking around the room, weirded out to not see your things or even clothes you usually peft to him to pick up.

At not receiving an answer he sighed, a bit of worry grow inside his chest and mind but he once again decided to brush off. Maybe you were off to your shenigans with Mimic or even Rappa. The meeting with Shigaraki was in about a couple of hours, and he had told you about it to appear along... so you must be there..

Or else someone better expect a punishment.

.

.

.

Tapping his foot on the floor he started to worry at not even hearing from you. Chrono and mimic just entered the room and he was about to demand where you where until he heard Shigaraki mumbles.

"I see you came late. Pintuality usually is soemthing I apreciate." He sighed while trying to ease back on his seat.

"Do I look like I care?" The red eyed villain spoke back as his eye twitched before his gaze went wide as you trailed after Shigaraki.

"(Y/n)." He sighed, mentioning for you to come to him. Others would underatand his sigh as some sort of annoyance sign but no. It was a relieved one...

Until you just let out aa confused sound as Shigaraki's eyes narrowed at him.

"Can I ask why the hell you know my girlfriend's name Overhaul?" Tomura hissed as Chisaki did the same threatening glare as he standed up.

"I beg you pardon?" He growled as you nervously touched Shigaraki's shoulders with a smile.

"Tomura, baby calm down please." He could sworn his chest just contracted enough to suffocate his heart at the moment he heard you saying such a pet name to the other man.

Suddenly your eyes were on him as you arched an eyebrow.

"Im sorry Overhaul." He shivered at hearing his villain name getting out of your lips "But I believed we... never met before?"

He stood there with wide golden eyes at your words... this was a joke on him, right? A fucked up joke.

"Overhaul sir." Mimic's voice broke his racing thoughts "I believe thats the only thing that guy said is right. This chick was there on the first meeting."

"That's simply impossible." He growles at his subbordinate as you scoffed and crossed your arms, Shigaraki with a hand, pinky stood out, on your shoulder.

"Impossible? I saw you killing Magne in front of my own eyes!" You hissed in disgust and anger, something he never thought he would hear it in this angelic voice of yours that was always complimeting and speaking lovely words to him.

He stood there horrified before sitting down with a hand on his hair, tugging a bit as hive grew on his hand and forearms as he shook his head once.

"No. That's not- There is a mistake.. (Y/n) and I- This must be a disgusting quirk afyivate on me or something this just cant be happening-"

His eyes burned for some reason, he felt like puling and screaming at the same time yet something just caged him onto it before he could at least blink for once...

He felt air come back to his lungs as he almost let out a gasp before blinking... he was back at the street he was hours ago and the sky was bright blue with no clouds as he previously saw it earlier.

The guy who had bumped to him had gone just like he saw but a bunch of paramedics were around him before he slapped one of their jands away at seing they were about to touch.

He ran as fast as he could to thhe yakusa. Not even bothering to take off his shoes as he rushed through the halls of his house and almost kicked the door of his bedroom open.

"(Y/n)?!" He panted, desperation rising on his skin and mind at seing you were not there before he heard some noises and saw you getting out of the bathroom with a confused look.

"Kai?" Your eyes widened in worry at his appearance, hair uncharestically messy, the visible part of his face with hives spreading and skin red as drop of sweat dropped, rushing towards him you cupped his face on your hands without thinking about his mysophobia "What happened to you love?! Are you okay?!"

You gasped as his arms suddenly wrapped around your waist as he rested his face on your hair as you blinked.... awkwardly hugging back since he was never one used to affection or touch even from you.

"Kai?" You called as he breathed in shakily before humming "Is everything alright? What happened?" You carresed his back a bit as he simoly blinker, his desperate expression slowly coming back to his usual stoic one as he carresed your hair and rubbed your back.

"... Now it is. Forgive me darling" he pushed you gently apart from the hug as he pinched his nose while breathing in "Just some sick using his quirk on me aparently."

"Oh" you giggled, the sound music to his ears "That explains a lot! You're going to take a bath now I presume?" You asked with a smile as he took off his mask and kissed you out of no where.

"Precisely" he muttered after the kiss "I expect you to join me as well since we're going to that place you pove so much after pestering me until the point driving me nuts."

You widened your eyes and felt your cheeks get hot at his words as you qatched him unfold his tie around his neck and going straight to the shower.

"B-but-? But didn't you have a meeting today?"

He simply stopped, back towards you and face towards the ground in silence before you saw his shoulders twitch.

"... I just feel like giving my angel some more time... and besides-" You saw the tips of his ears getting a bit red as he coughed on his fist "I cant deny I miss.. you-" and with that he went to the bathroom leaving you a flustered mess.

You let out a giggle before shaking your head... Kai was always a mystery to you...

[barr-uni]

It was just a regular morning in the monster world, time for monsters like Kels and Don to go and play in the human world. All the monsters who leaft would go secretly into the woods to find the human world portal and enter it, though that was a small amount.

Don and Kels usually got there early before the "rush" (as Kels would call it) could start. But today Kels was kind of late, Don was worried they abandoned her but Kels arrived just as she thought that. Don felt relief to see they finally came.

Kels was out of breath, but forced out their words, "Sorry! I'm...So...late..." they gasped out.

"It's okay, Kels! Please breathe..." Don said worriedly, so Kels stopped and took their time to breathe. By this time many other monsters had gone into the human world portal and Don was ready to go, but she didnt say anything. Kels was thinking the same thing really so once they caught their breath they insisted, "Would you like to go now, bro..?"

"Yes bro!"

"Okay dude let's go.." then they grabbed each others hands and went into the portal, it was the familiar purple they went through almost everyday then in an instant they were in the human world.

Where the other end of the portal was always was in the same place, very deep in a human world woods. Some monsters who went through didnt even think it was a different world, just the same one they were in but extended.

With their hands joined toghther Don and Kels made their way through the woods toghther, having done this so many times they already knew what ways to go. Though tonight felt different. "Do you wanna know why I was late?" Kels said suddenly. "Oh, sure. Why were you late, bro?"

"Nothing much really, just taking care of my sister again..."

"Oh okay. I was almost worried you abandoned me"

Kels and Don both stop walking.

"For real...?"

"Yeah"

"I'm sorry bro I hope you know I wouldn't ever do that..."

"Thank you.." Don says and hugs Kels. Kels hugs back tightly...

Then Kels hears something. "Dude I think someone is coming..."

"Who, bro?"

"I dont know, man, probably just another horny monster..."

"Haha..yeah...so, what do you wanna do tonight?"

"Oh gosh I forgot what we were doing... um...I dont know I'm kinda hungry though.." Kels complained and started walking again, Don followed.

"We should go get soemthing to eat then.."

"Okay, do you have any humans money?"

"Um, yeah but not a lot.."

"I'm sure itll be fine humans food is pretty cheap."

"If you say so.."

Don and Kels finally made their way out of the woods to a nearby park, they usually would hang out there but tonight they did not since Kels was hungry. There were some humans that they passed by but since it was nighttime they didnt really see the two or really care about what they looked like. This was one of the best things about being out at night. Even if someone did see them most humans assumed it was costumes.

Once they finally made it to a place to eat they were both really tired and glad to be able to sit down and rest. The place they stopped at was a local owned restaurant that also had icecreanms, is was kinda trashy but it wasnt too bad.

@littletomyeyes

This is all I have so far I hope it's good I can change a thing if u want

[bubwagon]

this post is long and boring and about isj and it functions as a way for me to figure some things out and remember them and wasn’t necessarily meant to be read

By all intents and purposes, that was an ideal meeting. Possibly perfect, in that I can't imagine anything better happening, with the exception of a reconciliation fuck but i don't think that would have necessarily been the best for either of us. I have a difficult time being in Corvallis because it brings up a lot of my worse behaviours. Or not, bad behaviours necessarily. But behaviours that are kinda unhelpful and destructive to me. For example: T is very poor and I love him a lot and he doesn't get a ton of support all the time and for a few reasons I'm a little better situated to deal with his issues (I have more attention and span for his feelings than everyone but Erica, I have more disposable income, and honestly mostly because I just don't talk to him every day of my life so it's not a huge deal if he goes on an emotional bender around me once in a while) so when I'm around him  just start paying for 100% of the things he needs and since I'm covering him for dinner what if I just paid for all of dinner for 6 people and took on the brunt of cooking as well. I'm kind of a giver, and normally that's fine, but I feel VERY compelled to give because corvallis stresses me out and I want to be likeable and my schtick for being likeable has always been to be generous. It means I bend my sweet baby butt backwards to accommodate the needs of resident gremlin boys and it's dumb!! When E first met me she was super suspicious of that which is fair. Like, it's dumb and I don't need to be so obsequious to be liked. Anyways I was kinda stressed out and I drank about 4 glasses of wine (or equivalent) on almost no food. I was, I don't know, punishing myself? So after I made dinner I decided I wasn't gonna have any right then. Anyways, I ran out of the house twice and I made friends on a playground and it was kinda dumb and dramatic but I get dumb and dramatic when I drink I guess. I just felt really clearly Not a part of the group. Sitting in a corner and cooking didn't help. Not playing MGS didn't help either, but also I clammed up.

Also: I want to say now that E is a light and saving grace and I feel incredibly fortunate that she was with me and caring for me. Hey here's mostly what I want to say: I think Ian is doing good and I think I am doing good and he was sweet and gentle and kind to me for the one day I visited. After everyone left it was decided that I was going to sleep on the shitty couch in his house. And I just sat down and was probably drunk and shellshocked looking and he asked me if I was okay. And I kinda waved him over and leaned against his hip. He lay his arm around me and gave me a hug. We went over to his room and just chatted about stuff. Here's what we went over: 1) We weren't emotionally compatible but we had fun sex. And that's no one's fault that we broke up. 2) He still cares about me and values me as a good friend, he's just bad at expressing that long distance. 3) He's doing well. And he's finally at the school he wanted to go to. And I think he's going to do very well as a chemical engineer. He likes the endlessly replicable tiny building block questions. He likes understanding what the world is I think. 4) He's very genuinely happy that I'm doing well, and that I'm happy. I don't know if the implication there was he was worried about me there. 5) He doesn't think our relationship was a mistake, and he, quote, "had a lot of fun." Which is right. We did have a lot of fun. 6) We didn't fuck or sleep together or anything. Though he said maybe next time, when he gets a queen sized bed and he feels a little less weird about stuff. 7) We talked about Sam breaking up and for some reason also that T asked me earlier that day if I wanted to FUXX. 8) We talked about his shoes and cool jacket, which we bought together 9) He totally had a boner for some of this. 10) He said it wasn't weird I sent him letters. 11) He promised he'd visit sometime (i was drunk, I do not expect him to follow through. I think i specifically said, even if you don't think it'll happen say it will. )

There were other little things. Mostly the gist I got was, even though our relationship dissolved we still care about each other and we don't express that in the same way, but it's enough to know that it's there. Of course, I was always gonna lowkey care about him, but it's nice to hear he does. I wasn't expecting that, necessarily. We hugged a bunch and kissed a little. I still feel like I fit really nicely into the space up and over his shoulder and chest, and it was nice in that it felt really familliar and safe. And we didn't make out or anything, just kinda fit the curve of two smiles against each other. I don't think you're supposed to kiss or cuddle your ex but it felt right. When he said it was time to say goodnight we hugged for a really long time in the hall outside his room. It was hard to want to let go. One of us would start letting go and the other one would hang on a little harder. I haven't rekindled an old flame or anything, and I haven't totally restarted the pining process. But he put away a lot of fears. I was really worried he regretted his time with me, and that he didn't like/respect/care about me as a person, and that I was a burden or a detriment to him when we were together. And it was like, no. we loved each other and it didn't work out but we did/do really care and that counts for something! It counts for a lot. And I know this isn't really addressing the real ways he did hurt me. I told him that for a while I was really mad, but I kinda thought I understood him finally at the end. And I wasn't so mad. At the same time: we tried and it didn't quite work out.

Easy as that. When we did say goodnight I could NOT fall asleep. I was hung over (already!) and at that point I hadn't eaten in almost 12 hours and drank a lot. I came in, asked if I could please join because I can't sleep, and he said, you're putting me in an awkward position here. I said sorry and left. Then he came out and took the couch and told me to take his bed.

The next morning when I came to say goodbye (he was asleep and at this point he moved back to his bed) we spooned for a bit. And when he laid down flat I nestled on top of him and held his hand and he held me really tight and then relaxed. He's a skinny little boy but he's comfy to be around. When it was time for me to leave I kissed him and his nose. And he pulled me back in for another long kiss. Then I kissed his forehead and he frowned and i laughed and called him the devil.  

And that's what happenend. I think I knew it was going to be fine when I discovered that he gently and prominently placed all of the little things I bought him in his new room. He coulda chucked them somewhere or thrown them out (all of the things he gave me are hiding in dark corners because they kinda bring me pain to look at, but probably won't any more), but he put the little pusheen plush on the shelf next to all his fucking DOTA figurines, by the computer where he spends 100% of his time. And the pen I gave him is sitting right next to his desktop monitor. And the stickers and weird kitkat are around. It's all okay.

Here's what I want to remember from our relationship now that I don't feel uncomfortably badgered by negative emotions: 1) Leaning on him in the bright sun sitting on two tiny logs listening to him nervously decide what he wanted our relationship to look like. 2) Going with him to Powells, and the Doc Martens store, and Macys (?) on one of our first dates. I helped him pick out new boots, and a leather jacket. I was so delighted by Powells. Here's what I remember: reading the old bionicle books on the floor of Powels, delighted that the writing still held up as decent YA sci-fi. 3) Having sex (him losing that sweet sweet virginity!) for the first time to mind of a chef, fire episode in season 3. Hilarious. 4) He visited once when I really had to study and he helped me pomodoro. Every twenty five minutes he'd come upstairs to give me a kiss and a hug, and leave once I had to study again. 5) Spending a long time in bed with him in the mornings. It's a variable but happy memory. 6) Making pizza. 7) Awkwardly first telling him that I loved him. Hey this is a sweet story. Some rough shit was going down and he really took care of me. He held me against his chest so I could feel his heartbeat and breathed in deep and slow so I'd stop gasping. Eric used to do this too, and it's nice that people pick up on this. At night, in bed and with the light off I said soemthing like don't take this too seriously but I love you right now. And he was quiet and I felt like cutting out my unwary tongue. And he asked what that meant. And I told him something stupid about how I love a lot and each love is beautiful and unique or something. And he asked if it'd be weird if he said it too. And I said, no, but don't feel compelled to. And he said i love you too and i think i was the little spoon and i turned around and we kissed. It was a nice moment.

I think he's doing better. He was sweet and genuine to people that weren't me. He was honest to E about feeling bad for how he treated her. And when T had to throw up a little he brought him water. AND he helped cook. Small things, but it shows some sweet sweet character development.  I love him, a little, still. But again, that doesn't really make him special. I feel wistful and nostalgic, but I'm happy. Also a little sad, but I feel good about this right now. I could visit again, especially now that I know tickets to PDX are like 70 bucks if you get them early enough. I could stop blacklisting his tumblr URL. This post was really for me to think about how I felt and to kind of write it all down so I wouldn't forget. I feel really lucky to have a good relationship with him. I also feel really lucky to have a good relationship with Eric. I think this is gonna be a good okay thing. I don't have a lot to be nervous about anymore? That's all done. T and I love each other of course. EBB has fast become one of my closest friends and I love her :'). Nick likes me and puts in an effort to acknowledge what I say and I feel comfortable around him. And EHP and I have been talking a little and i really respect and appreciate him. Maybe I can just go to Corvo and have a good relaxed time now.

Here's what I'm hoping for next: - have a good time in Vancouver w/ friends. - do fucking great as a copyeditor - get the content marketing writing/editing position - move tf out of my house and in with marisa

i'm feeling good right now and while i'm thinking that tweet that's like OH SO I'M JUST SUPPOSED TO ENJOY GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO ME INSTEAD OF LIVING IN FEAR THAT THEY'LL TURN TO DUST IN MY HANDS but things are Okay!

i am feeling just wistful and nostalgic right now. and i’m a little sad. but that was really nice, and that’s the best i could have hoped for.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “The Slime”

Hello everyone, sorry I have been busy and haven’t posted as much as normal, but it’s been busy and will be for another week. However, I wanted to give Krill a little screen-time after Sunny became so popular. So this one takes place before she joined the crew. I hope you like it :) Fell free to question message, comment ask, give ideas and prompts. 

The conference hall for the Galactic Assembly hall was awash in chaos. Captain Vir sat wide eyed next to krill (temporary representative of earth while the ambassador was away). The Assembly members argued over each other raised voices becoming even more agitated than the ones before.

“ORDER, ORDER I SAY” A loud hammering broke through the noise, and the gathered assembly took to their seats eyes wide with fright.

The chairwoman folded her posterior appendages to the front, “I will have order. Panic will do nothing for us. As it seems, the Gromm’s home world has been overrun by a virulent plague. Unfortunately, we are not sure of the exact nature of the disease. Before their scientists could come to us with their discovery all communications had gone dark….. We fear we may have lost them.”

“That’s not right.” The entire assembly hall turned to look at the human. Krill sunk behind the desk in embarrassment.

“You have something to say, human?”

Captain Vir looked awkwardly down at the desk for a moment before taking a deep breath and standing up, “Well aren’t you going to send someone. The CDC or a hazmat team, you can’t just leave them to die out there, can you? Not if there is soemthing that can be done.” The entire hall rumbled with assent to the human’s words.

The chairwoman leaned back eyeing the human, “Tell me than, what makes you qualified to make such suggestions.” The hall grumbled again

“Well, I come from a world that has had a ton of plagues and diseases as you know, the black plague, Spanish influenza, smallpox, bird flu to name a few. And every time that happened, someone came in to help. Take Ebola as an example, a hemorrhagic fever originating near the Ebola River that, as the name suggests, causes massive internal bleeding with fever. It is so contagious that you can catch it through contact with bodily fluids, from dead bodies, and (After a particular mutation) through contact with the air. It has somewhere between a 50-90% fatality rate without treatment. And despite that, when outbreaks happen we don’t just leave those people to die. Volunteer doctors and nurses went in with hazmat suits to take care of those people. Some of them died, some of them caught the disease, and others saved a lot of lives.”

The room was surprisingly quiet. Krill was surprised too, they knew humans to be a warlike species, but they hadn’t known them to be so…. Caring. To risk death to help those who may not be saved?

“A touching story, Captain, but how does that help us?”

Captain Vir crossed his arms, “If I can contact Earth, and find someone who is willing to help, I will personally fly them in myself to provide security.”

***

“Why did you agree to this?” Krill wondered uneasily watching as the captain and the rest of the volunteer medical team began strapping on their hazmat uniforms. Behind his clear plastic mask, the captain grinned fogging up the glass face, “Because, someone’s gotta do it, and besides, humans have the best immune systems this side of the galaxy.”

Krill grumbled slightly, “Maybe to earth diseases, which are disgusting, but not to alien diseases.”

“I thought you were a surgeon, not an infectious disease specialist.”

“I still went to medical school.” Krill grumbled, “Now remember captain, stay safe, and keep clean. Make sure to follow any and all decontamination procedures. Don’t touch anything if you don’t have to. Keep your feed on, so that I can see what’s going on. Maybe I can help. Also, remember to keep you-“

“Respirator on and gloves on at all times, yes Krill, I’m not stupid. I don’t want to die either.” Next to him, the other volunteers from his crew were strapping on their weapons making ready for entry.

Krill was still nervous watching them board the shuttle, and, through the cameras, their descent towards the Gromm homeworld. All around the world other crews would be doing the same thing.

***

“Approaching the first settlement at about 23% west. There seems to be no signs of life thus far.” Krill watched as the captain stepped around a strange plant and continued walking as he narrated for them. The feed wasn’t great, so it would be a help. “No movement, no alarms, nothing.” They moved over a rise and made their way down another hill reaching the settlement in about twenty minutes, having parked themselves at a good distance from the settlement. “Looks like we have our first body.” The captain said grimly crouching down and peering with his helmet cam at the shriveled corps dried into a husk under the sun. “This thing looks F***ing mummified.” The captain mumbled walking in a wide circle around the body to get it from all angles.

Krill had to agree with the captain’s assessment. The average Gromm was about three times the size of that body, with considerable mucus tissue covering most of its body. If it had died out in the sun, It was likely it had just dehydrated there.

One of the medical team began taking samples from the corpse as the rest moved closer to one of the buildings. Captain Vir took point next to the rest of his team protecting the medical staff as they softly shoved the door open.

Every human within sight left of a collective gasp.

“Ewwww f***ing disgusting.” One of them muttered. The captain made a noise in the back of his throat before, “Oh shit, I… Don’t know if you can all see, but the room is, absolutely….. Covered in slime.” With the medical team, they ventured into the room. It was dark enough Krill had trouble seeing, but the captain’s narration kept him aware, “There are at least 10, maybe 12 bodies in here all resting in pools of slime. It looks like it’s splattered the walls, there is even some on the ceiling. I can feel it through my boots.” He crouched down next to one of the bodies and ran a quick scan, “This one appears to be dead.” Krill squirmed a little in his seat at the disgusting sight, bulging eyes and a flaccid expression like the creature had just been deflated somehow.

“I GOT A LIVE ONE” Someone called.

The captain turned his helmet to look, and they all rushed over to a body in the corner. The creature was barely alive, eyes rolling against its chapped skin, “Water.” It pleaded. Someone, heading the plea left the room and came in with a bucket filled to the brim with water. The creature had no real mouth to drink like a human, so, instead, they dumped the bucket of water over the creature’s deflated form. Immediately, it began to look better, perking up and swelling to a proper size. It took a gasping breath, but seemed to sick to do much more than that. Immediately it began oozing at a furious pace.

“What the hell.” The captain muttered. Krill pressed closer to the screen. He had never seen anything like it. The average Gromm didn’t produce more than a quart of slime per day, but it was quickly loosing water even as they watched.

The humans began immediate procedure in helping the creature filling another tub full of water, and then dumping the Gromm into it covering themselves in slime during the process. The idea seemed to be working, though it would only be a temporary solution.

They continued on from there going from house to house, finding many dead, some still clinging to life, and all in need of water. Captain Vir kept track of everything he saw and everything the medical professionals pointed out. He went into most of the houses first and cleared each room before allowing others to follow him.

They were taking a look at one of the bodies when it happened. It was dark, and eerie, the house appeared to have been painted in the slime. No lights were on, and there were few windows. Captain Vir was scanning one of the subjects when it happened. The Gromm sat up and made a horrible screeching noise.

Vir leaped back, and tipped over something.

Krill heard the tearing. And then the cursing. “F**k, it’s inside my suit f**K.” The feed cut out.”

***

Krill sat at the consul shaking, body racked with panic. It was sure the captain’s suit had been breached, and he had been exposed to the pathogen. Second hands reported that he had been quarantined and was being observed….. Symptoms had already begun to appear, though the specifics were kept to a minimum.

Just then the camera turned on, and the captain appeared in the feed. He was smiling, but looked shaky. The plastic of the tent around him revealed a single entrance, a bed, a bucket, and a few other supplies, “Well….. I’ve been exposed to whatever this thing is. Whatever it is its fast acting.” He reached up to wipe his eyes, “About three hours after exposure, my nose started to run, and my eyes started to water.” He swallowed and wiped his mouth, “I’m not feeling anything else, no fever, no nausea, no sore throat, so perhaps it won’t be that bad. I’ll keep you updated.

***

Krill sat, furiously examining the samples that he had been given trying to figure out what exactly the pathogen’s purpose was. He wasn’t an expert in this area, but he knew enough that he thought it might help.

Behind him, the feed clicked on. The captain sat there looking an absolute mess. He was sniffling and wiping at his face every few seconds. His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were damp, “So…. It’s getting worse. Uh,” he wiped at his face, arm coming away covered in stringy slime. “It’s like, I was sprayed with CS gas, or ate a ghost pepper without the burning….” Tears trickled down his face in a steady stream, and as he spoke, it sounded like he was trying to speak past a mouthful of water, “I’m covered in my own.” He swallowed, “Slime. The medical team has been using me for its samples. The rest of the Gromm appear to be stabilizing. As long as you keep them in water, they seem alright, but we keep having to refill the water because they use it so fast. A few others are showing signs of improvement, thousands more have died.” He wiped at his face again, “And I have run out of tissues for the tenth time now…..”

***

The captain leaned against the edge of the frame. His cheeks were sunken his eyes were ringed with bags. He was no longer wearing his soaked shirt. He wiped at his face in vein, “Well, we have a name for it Viral Hyperactive Ectomucsacytosis, I just call it ‘The Slime.” He leaned over and spit into the bucket, “Which means that it’s a virus that causes hyperactivity in the exterior mucus membranes. So on the Gromm, who have mucus membranes covering their bodies, it’s almost a death sentence. They produce mucus until they have no water left to do so, and then they dry up. For humans it also attacks exterior mucus membranes.” He wiped at his head, “Luckily it doesn’t seem to affect the lugs or the intestines, but” He motioned to himself, “As you can see, it attacks the eyes, the nose, the mouth and…… well there are a few other places, but I’ll let you use whatever medical knowledge you have to guess those…..” He sighed, “I’ve stopped wearing clothes, because I have nothing dry left.”

He held up his arm, “As you might know, saliva and other mucus is about 90% water, so I am excessively dehydrated. They’ve started a wide boar IV on me just to keep up with the water loss.” He sighed, “I haven’t peed in almost 24 hours. I’m dizzy, and keep forgetting what I’m supposed to say. Since they gave me the IV I’ve been feeling a little better.” He sighed again, “My skin is dry, I feel cold, and they are worried about organ failure if I continue to loose water. Oh, also I have a massive headache.”

***

Captain Vir stepped aboard the ship two weeks later wearing dry clothes and looking relatively chipper. The planetary crisis for the Gromm had been reduced by the brave humans who had volunteered to come and aid those that were left alive. Millions had died in the plague, but with excessive amounts of water, the Virus had run its course. Anyone and everyone who received sufficient care during that time survived and recovered including Captain VIr.

Certain settlements had figured this trick out before their brethren and had taken to the water as soon as the outbreak had shown the symptoms that it did. They found other settlements that had not been touched by the plague, but they were often far outside city limits and had no real way to contact anyone. Many of the Gromm would remain permanently affected by the disease causing a dysregulation of their usual slime production.

Disease free, Vir was back to his normal self, and had decided that your average runny nose was nothing compared to “The slime”. A runny nose didn’t usually cause dehydration, organ failure, headache, and muscle cramps.

Krill, to himself, was very impressed with the humans. It hadn’t taken very long for Vir to find his volunteers, and no one had through twice about helping an entirely different race. They had come in on the hundreds, and had saved an entire planet from the brink of extinction risking their own lives in the process. At least 25 humans out of the hundreds sent had been infected, and all had survived without continuing issue.

Humans are a strange race, bred in war and shaped by pain, and so they fear nothing. They don’t fear sickness, or death, but they believe in survival. This idea is engrained so deeply that, even against logic, they will risk their own lives to lift up the lives of others.

No other race sent volunteer envoys onto the face of the Gromm planet, no other species suffered the sickness. It was humans, and humans aloe willing to risk death to save a species not their own.